Scott_R
New Member
I've had a Z-Edge Z3 Plus since October 2017. I've had some issues with the camera since then, but the company was always very helpful--emailing me firmware flashes to fix some things, and a new camera if that didn't work.
For a while now the internal battery has mostly stopped working, so that the camera time/date resets to 2017 very frequently, and the camera is now out of warranty. I've been looking for a replacement, and hadn't ruled out another Z-Edge product, but then I came across this site, and from what I'm reading those dash cams aren't held in wide regard here.
Here's what I'm looking for:
Powered by the 12v adapter. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I believe in Murphy's Law, which means not having something drawing power while the car is off. I know there are low-power shut offs with the cameras, but if something goes wrong with that and it keeps draining, or if power get low and something else is on (e.g., I left an inside light on, too), well. Not worth it to me
Great video quality and low light performance, of course, but who doesn't want that?
Not sure about a rear cam. I never bothered to get one, and I'm not sure I want to gingerly wire around the various side airbags.
Easy access to the recorded videos while on the road. One thing I didn't like about the Z-Edge was that it wasn't easy to access the videos, especially if I need to scrub to a specific point in one (had a frustrating moment some time back getting to the right segment of a video after an accident, though when I did i was able to prove to the cop on the scene that I was right and the other driver was lying). I'm supposing this is best accomplished via wi-fi and a well-designed app on the phone.
That's off the top of my head; I'm sure more will occur to me at an inconvenient time. So I'm looking at some of the VIOFO cams, though I've just started and am puzzled at why the lower-end A119 V3 is getting better recommendations than the A139. Is it just a matter of the A119 having been out longer?
I'm also debating a splurge on the Thinkware, though I'm again puzzled at the higher rating for the F800 PRO over the U1000.
What am I missing? Any further considerations I should give?
For a while now the internal battery has mostly stopped working, so that the camera time/date resets to 2017 very frequently, and the camera is now out of warranty. I've been looking for a replacement, and hadn't ruled out another Z-Edge product, but then I came across this site, and from what I'm reading those dash cams aren't held in wide regard here.
Here's what I'm looking for:
Powered by the 12v adapter. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I believe in Murphy's Law, which means not having something drawing power while the car is off. I know there are low-power shut offs with the cameras, but if something goes wrong with that and it keeps draining, or if power get low and something else is on (e.g., I left an inside light on, too), well. Not worth it to me
Great video quality and low light performance, of course, but who doesn't want that?
Not sure about a rear cam. I never bothered to get one, and I'm not sure I want to gingerly wire around the various side airbags.
Easy access to the recorded videos while on the road. One thing I didn't like about the Z-Edge was that it wasn't easy to access the videos, especially if I need to scrub to a specific point in one (had a frustrating moment some time back getting to the right segment of a video after an accident, though when I did i was able to prove to the cop on the scene that I was right and the other driver was lying). I'm supposing this is best accomplished via wi-fi and a well-designed app on the phone.
That's off the top of my head; I'm sure more will occur to me at an inconvenient time. So I'm looking at some of the VIOFO cams, though I've just started and am puzzled at why the lower-end A119 V3 is getting better recommendations than the A139. Is it just a matter of the A119 having been out longer?
I'm also debating a splurge on the Thinkware, though I'm again puzzled at the higher rating for the F800 PRO over the U1000.
What am I missing? Any further considerations I should give?